Balloon Volleyball

It has been a long time since I’ve been on the balloon volleyball carpet. But it’s amazing what comes back to you when you’re stuck inside with with your kids. I think balloon volleyball should be more widely recognized. It’s a simple game that brings volleyball out of the gymnasiums and into our houses – where it belongs.

The rules are simple. They are the same as volleyball except with a balloon. All you need for a net is a row of chairs and you are ready to play. However it is recommended tall people play on their knees and spike serves are strictly forbidden. I recommend you get out a balloon and play right now!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 22nd, 2011 at 1:11 pm. It is filed under Blog.
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As someone with only two (minor) references in Wikipedia compared to your four I hesitate to challenge your assertion that the rules of balloon volleyball are simple. However like many informal games lacking a professional league or Olympic status, balloon volleyball suffers from a complex and confusing web of competing regulations.

While indeed SOME sets of rules are simple (for example those listed at http://fusenvolleyball.blogspot.com/ ) other set of rules are much more complex, like the Japanese handi-able version described at http://www.ehow.com/list_7172035_balloon-volleyball-rules.html Back in my Cambridge days the rules differed from the Oxford version (sofas and armchairs versus books cases and wine racks as net and modern balloon versus inflated sheep’s bladder as ball among other key differences) and no compromise has every been negotiated to allow it to join the list of sports (from Tiddleywinks to Real Tennis) in which these and indeed other ancient rivalries are fought.

Some feel that the diversity of rules is part of the charm of this ancient sport – whose rules appear never to have been formally unified since the first unambiguous description as “Aerokysti Kotsia” (air-bladder ball) in the third tractate of St Agios the decrepit. Indeed this disunity may by preventing the development of competitive leagues have saved us from the uglier aspects of modern sports – balloon volleyball being for example one of the few ball sports with no recorded cases of steroid or other drug abuse.

Sincerely,
Yair Shachar-Hill

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Neil has honed his directing and producing skills in the world of documentary where he has become expert at mining humour out of real life.
And he continues to stay busy in the comedy world with national radio, live improv comedy, short films and comedy pilots.